Axis
by Snagged
Summary: Two nomads cross paths; a lone Skag wrangler and a familiar Assassin who is ordered to kill her loyal Skag which is also her only means of getting around. How will she save her Skag? Can she? What will happen if she does? ZeroxOC Rated M for language and sexual content. R&R please! (Originally a one shot)(in progress)
1. Rolling Into Town

Nobody shed a single tear. Not because they didn't want to or had no desire, but because it was so unreal.  
Everybody knew that it would happen some day or another. It's how they were all expected to die, but not for him. He was the one least expected to go this way.  
What would they do now? What would become of them?

* * *

She wanted so badly to enter his room and find something that smelled of him so she could bury her face in it and maybe finally let loose the tears she'd been willing back all day, but something stopped her.  
What if, when she entered and picked up the jacket he was never without, it would all hit her at once? What if it was the thing that would verify that he was gone forever? What if when she picked it up, it was how the universe would interpret as her admitting he's gone and that it could have him?  
It seemed a little ridiculous, but in times like these, no matter what faith a person was, they become fragile and willing to bend to anything if it meant getting their loved ones back.  
She stood in the doorway with her hand on the frame and watched the dust motes float aimlessly through the beams of light that shone through the dusty window. The room was bathed in the sunsets rays and turned a cozy warm color. It was as if the room had been filled with his soul.  
She pressed the heel of her thumb against her right eye and sighed to herself.  
Who was she trying to fool? Other than herself?  
Certainly not the Universe. It knew.

* * *

In three more miles, they could finally stop and rest; for the most part. Their stays were always short and throughout the entirety of their visit, they worried. They worried about bandits and psychos and killers and murderers. Most importantly, they worried about people who didn't understand.  
When they see an adult Skag laying in the shade of the Inn or the Bar, their first instinct is to shoot. If they didn't have a gun, they'd find somebody who did.  
They have had close calls before and it was then she decided to make him blatantly different. After having been shot at with a rifle, she made it her priority to have his saddle colored brightly so that it would be easily seen. They'd wonder what the fuck was on him then they'd see it was a saddle and maybe..maybe they wouldn't be 'as' prone to shoot. It wasn't foolproof, but she felt they got as far as they had because of it.

The small shanty-town came into view and she could feel her Skag become excited. Suddenly his clawed feet pounded on the ground with a burst of urgency and her body lurched with every bound he took.  
The first stop would be to get some fluid in the both of them. The first tavern they came across, she tied him to a beam and gave him very little slack, as per the usual. It wasn't to be cruel, but to keep him and the people, and vehicles, around him safe. His muzzle kept him from opening his mouth wide enough to fit anything important in it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.  
Before entering, she pointed to him sternly, "Behave!"  
In response, the uppity Skag scooted, stood, then sat again before laying down with a huff.  
She entered the dark tavern, it wasn't cooler than the outside by much, and approached the bar quickly. She set down her bag and quickly made eye-contact with the barkeep and held her canteen to them. "This place doesn't have a trough?"  
The barkeep, a old, rotund man with salt-and-pepper stubble gave her a toothy smirk. "For what? The only use those things got were by the drunks who'd either heave their guts into it or use it as a bed." he shrugged, "Or both."  
The woman just exhaled and rested her arms on the surface as she waited for her canteen to be filled. She'd have to find somewhere to hydrate her Skag. Without him, she was stranded.  
The barkeep placed the canteen in front of her and when she grabbed it, he didn't give in. She looked at him and his weary gaze.  
"What do ya need a trough for, anyway?"  
Now came the fun part. She loosened her grip on the canteen but kept her fingertips against it. She leaned in slightly, "I don't ride a mechanical beast." she began, hoping that would quell his curiosity. It rarely did.  
"Is that so?" he asked as he leaned back. His narrowed eyes communicated that he already had a vague idea of what she meant.  
"You don't need to worry. I spent my life wrangling them." she defended, trying to keep her voice low.  
He rose a brow and tilted his head. "So it's true." he let go of the canteen and glanced down the bar. "I've only heard stories. Folk tales really."  
She slid the canteen closer to her in case he wanted to use it as leverage again. "Well it's true. Was anyway. I dunno how many more of us are out there, but where I'm from, we're basically extinct." With that, she spun the top from her canteen and took a long drink.  
"Then maybe you can be of some help." She set the canteen down and swallowed, brows perked. "You see, this place ain't but a scrap so we don't have many...security measures. We got a bit of a Skag problem just outside our borders..a nest of 'em. Sounds like something you can handle?"  
She smirked to the man while she screwed the top back onto her canteen. "Childs play."  
He chuckled then said, "Go see Paulie. He's in the biggest shack around, can't miss it. He'll fill ya in on the details." he paused then asked, "What's yer name, anyhow?"  
The woman stood and hooked the canteen onto her belt, "Aunika. I'll be back."  
She then departed from the bar and strode towards the exit. As she reached the door, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she stopped. There was a quick movement to her right but when she looked, it was just a dark corner.  
She gave it a weary leer then exited to go and find Paulie.


	2. Corners

By the time she exited the shack, she was informed, hungry and the sun was creeping towards the horizon. She still had a few hours left in the day which she could use to get a jump on that Skag problem, but she didn't need to creep into the inn during the wee hours of the night only to find out all of the rooms have been filled.  
She looked around from the porch of Paulie's shack and screwed her mouth up.  
Maybe that wouldn't be a problem. Still, though, she was tired, hungry and she still needed to find water for her Skag.

Aunika lead her Skag through the town and was oblivious to the stares and hushed curses. It happened every time she came into any town, so after a while, it was just background noise. They weren't any more noticeable than the howling wind or the hum of distant motors.  
Her Skag exhale in loud puffs since he was unable to open his mouth wide enough to pant. He'd have to wait until they were in a safe and enclosed place before she could even loosen up his muzzle.

"I know, boy. Just hold on. I'll find you some water."  
The Skag sneezed, a long string of drool, or snot, swayed and showed no sign of reaching the ground and breaking off. He seemed indifferent to this.  
As they passed a space between a Chemist and Grocers, her Skag stopped and emitted a throaty growl. He pulled on his lead trying to get closer to whatever he was growling at.  
She held on tightly and dug her heels into the dirt. "Knock it off. Do you wanna get shot?!" She scolded. Aunika looked into the alley to see what he was snarling at, but there was nothing but a few grungy trash bins and the skeleton of some kind of go-cart looking thing.  
He stopped pulling and the growls reduced to throaty rumbles.  
"C'mon. This heat must be getting to you."  
She pulled the lead and he obliged, padding alongside her and still drooling.

* * *

Beside the Inn where some vehicle parts and building materials were being stored, she found a basin where water had been collecting. The place didn't look like it had any rain in over a hundred years, but it was clear and after sniff-testing and tasting it herself, passed as regular old water. Skags drank worse in the wild, so he'd do fine. She barely got a chance to even test it before he got excited and nearly dumped it over in his rush to consume it. She finally loosened his muzzle enough to allow him to lap away at the water but kept him tied to the side of the building where he was concealed by long forgotten piles of wood and vehicle parts.  
"Stay here. I gotta go do some things." she said to the Skag who was still to busy with water to care about much else.  
She left him there and looked around to see if any prying eyes were upon her. The coast was clear, so she departed and made her way to the nearest dining establishment.  
The small shanty-town offered very little, so a squat little shack by the name of Mavie-Lous was all she had.  
It was better lit than the bar but was still dusty and a bit stuffy. She seated herself at a booth and picked up the greasy menu that had been stapled and taped a million times over. While she browsed, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up again. For reasons unknown to her, her eyes immediately rose above the menu and settled on a dark corner where some tall tables stood with matching barstools.  
Her entire body tensed up and now the hairs on her arms stood as well. A man, a lithe man, in a full-body suit of some sort leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and his strange, robot like mask was facing directly at her.  
She quickly looked back at her menu and pretended not to notice.  
What felt like an eternity later, an aged, rail-thin women stopped at her table and asked what it was that she wanted to eat.  
Auniky leaned back so that she was concealed by the woman then spoke softly.  
"That man over there..."  
"Oh, him?" The woman asked, pointing with her pen over her shoulder. "That bean-pole's been here since around noon. Think he's been sleepin'. Hadn't moved since he finished his meal. Strange this is..never saw him take a bite, but that plate was clean when I got there." She shrugged. "I'd kick him out but..poor thing clearly could use the sleep. Been out for damn near four hours. Dunno who can sleep like that unless they were out cold. Anyway, what can I get ya?"  
Aunika peered around her and sure enough, he hadn't moved an inch. She relaxed somewhat, "Guess just the BBQ crabworm and a beer."  
The woman nodded to her then left allowing for Aunika to sit back and gaze out the window absently. From where she was, she could see where she had come from and just thinking about her journey made her sleepy.  
Seemingly against her own will, her eyes shifted to that corner and she tensed up again, her fingers digging into her upperarms.  
The corner was vacant. No signs of anybody having even been there could be seen.  
Had he even been there? Did she just imagine her conversation with the waitress?  
She sat up, nervous, and suddenly feeling chilly despite the 90 degree temperatures.  
The waitress returned with her beer, "Oh. Guess he woke up, huh?"  
"Guess I didn't imagine him." She blurted.  
"Why would you say that?"  
She looked at the waitress then over at the corner. "I didn't see him move..let alone leave. He just..vanished."  
"Hn," the waitress hummed, "A skinny little thing like him..the draft must have just blown him on out."  
The two of them chuckled and she was left alone with her beer. She sipped from it but she couldn't help but glance back at the corner, halfway expecting him to show up again.  
For the remainder of her meal, he didn't. She was glad to get back out into the sunlight but she knew that outside, there were more corners.


	3. The Face of Shadows

She had about three hours before the sunset but she wanted nothing more than to have a nice long sleep at the Inn and get a start on the next leg of her journey.  
The walk back to the Inn seemed longer than the trip from it to the restaurant. She attributed this to her sleepiness and thought nothing more of it.  
When she got about a door-down, she could hear her Skag snarling.  
"Oh shit-" she blurted then took off to where she left him. She was expecting to find some kid with a stick poking him or throwing rocks, but what she saw instead made her stop dead in her tracks.  
She felt her chest tighten as if the muscles there had all shrank and squeezed her rib-cage.  
Her Skag snarled and made threatening lunged but couldn't go far on his shortened lead.  
Despite herself, she approached, "What are you doing!?" she demanded.  
The man sheathed his sword and looked directly at her.  
"I've got a mission. It's my duty to comply. There's no going back." he responded, then looked to the Skag again and placed his right hand on the swords handle.  
"Stop! Who put you up to this?"  
He looked to her again. "Confidential." was his only reply.  
Aunika disregarded him and cautiously approached her Skag while she spoke to him loud but soothingly. For the first few moments, he seemed confused as to whether he should still be growling or if he should be obeying Aunika. He snapped his jaws at her but she responded by clapping her hands together loudly and shouting 'hey!'  
He flinched but he stopped growling and sat. She was then able to get close enough to tighten his muzzle and get a good grip on it to keep him from moving his head.  
"Well whoever it is, tell them to fuck off because this Skag belongs to me and he's my only means of getting around."  
The man withdrew his sword, "I'm sorry, I must. I accepted my orders. It's too late for him." he replied, raising his sword.  
Without thought, she withdrew her gun and fired. For a moment, he was still. "You missed."  
"The next one won't"  
The three of them stood in silence, but he lowered his sword. "Why do you care?"  
"For what? This Skag?" she chuckled wryly and shook her head once. "Long story. One that isn't your business. Now if you'd be so kind as to take your cute little toothpick and go find somebody else to piss off."  
He remained still but only momentarily. The next thing he did startled her. A red hologram appeared displaying a nine, an underscore then another nine. He sighed, irritated. "I must fulfill my orders."  
"What are they paying you? I'll pay you double, okay? Or do I gotta go and have them call off the hit." She laughed a little. "What are you anyway? Some kind of kinky pest control man?"  
The red hologram changed then to a symbol she recognized as meaning 'anger'. "I'm an assassin."  
"Pft. wow, business must be booming if you're getting called to take hits on Skags." she taunted. "Seriously. I'll pay you to leave us alone. How much?"  
"I cannot have mercy." He admitted sternly then rose his blade again. He swung it down with the utmost precision ensuring a clean and efficient kill. The problem was, the resistance he felt was not the resistance he expected from a Skag. It was far too familiar.  
He quickly pulled his blade away and looked down at the women without any indication of his emotion displayed.  
She held her arm again her body and apparently had deflected it enough to avoid being skewered but still got a pretty nasty cut.  
"If you're going to kill him, you'll have to kill me and I am not your target."  
He took a step back then looked down the alley towards the street. She was right and it was against an Assassins ethics to kill anybody but their target. But she was the Skags guard, in a way, and he was allowed to incapacitate her at least.  
He rose his blade again, this time holding it so that he may use the pommel to knock her out. As he rose his arm, she swayed then fell to her knees and then onto her side.  
That would do it.  
He stepped forward to finish his job but red of her blood stood out against the grey-brown dirt and he realized how much she was bleeding. Sure she was incapacitated, but if left, she'd bleed out.  
He could finish the job then take her to a medic, but a Skags thick skin wasn't easily penetrated and she easily bleed out before he was able to get past the Skags hardened layer of skin.  
He sighed, sheathed his sword, then knelt down and lifted her but was careful to stay out of the Skags reach.


	4. The Shadows Speak

She woke with a start, sweaty and shaking.  
The last thing she remembered was a man in a fullbody suit trying to kill her Skag.  
A searing pain in her arm reminded her that she'd also gotten sliced trying to protect him.  
"Fucking dick." She cussed then inhaled sharply.  
She didn't bother to wonder who had bandaged her or to see how much they'd even done, she had to go see if her Skag was still alive.  
When she stood, blood rushed out of her head and there was an immense pressure on her eyes. Things went black for a moment but the pain subsided and she regained vision. It was then she realized that she was in the Inn she booked just before visiting Paulie.  
"How the fuck-" That was a mystery for another time. Right then, something else was more important.  
She nearly ran down the hall, the steps, through the check in and out the door. She broke into a full run once outside and didn't stop until she was standing in front of her Skag.  
He leaped to his feet, startled, then sat when he realized that it was just her.  
"Wha-I thought.." She exhaled and knelt before the Skat to scritch his head. "Where'd the asshole in the suit go, huh? Doesn't matter. I'm glad you're okay. Dunno if I can leave you out here now..or take you in." Especially when she didn't know how she even got into her room.  
Aunika removed his muzzle and gave him slack on his lead. "If he comes back, bite his shiny little head off, alright?"  
She stood and backed away as if afraid the man would pop up as soon as she got a few feet away. She got halfway down the alley before she felt it was okay to turn then did so wearily.  
Only when she got back into her room did she feel even slightly relieved and calm.  
She sat on her bed and looked over her arm. It had been stitched and bandaged but would need to be changed soon.  
"Stupid motherfucker. Should have punched him right in that..screen..thing." she muttered.  
"Is that anyway/to go about thanking me/for fixing your wound?"  
Aunika jumped in her skin and leaped to her feet. She turned this way and that trying to find him but could see nothing now that the sun had set and she didn't flip on the light. "Where are you? Why are you here?"  
She took a step back and bumped into something tall and padded. SHe spun around and instinctively reached out to push him away. "You creepy fuck!" she blurted.  
He grabbed her wrists as she retracted her hands and struggled, but he was surprisingly strong. "I came to tell you/ your skag is not in danger/ the hit is now off."  
She jerked her hands back and he let go. "What? Why."  
"Well if-"  
"No I mean..how?"  
The man shrugged one shoulder. "We are both aware/of who you and the skag are/and my employer trusts you."  
Aunika rubbed her wrists and didn't respond immediately. When she did, she asked, "How much did they tell you."  
"You make a living/ by wrangling what you ride/you have a mission."  
She nodded. "Yeah..tomorrow..Gonna fix their Skag problem." The both were quiet for a moment. "Did..you do this?" she asked, pointing to her arm. "  
He shook his head. "No. A doctor."  
"But you..took me here."  
He nodded that time. "Wasn't difficult. /The clerk asked no questions/I brought you and left."  
She gave him a slow, suspicious nod. "Well. Thanks." He said nothing but he turned towards the window which was probably how he got in. "Wait-" Aunika called, stepping forward. "Who..are you?"  
He fully faced her. "I am a shadow/I come and go like the wind/I obey then leave."  
"So I was right. You're an assassin."  
He nodded again. "That's all there is to know."  
She shook her head. "I don't believe that. Was that you..in the bar today?"He stiffened noticeably. Before he could respond, before he could lie, she continued. "Then you were at the diner. What's up with that?"  
"Coincidence."  
"Was it coincidence that you were seated facing my booth? Were you even there before me?"  
"So many questions."  
"Yes. I want to know. I come into town and suddenly, you're everywhere. Then you try to kill my Skag and-"  
She rose her arms and gestured around them.  
"Don't think too much."  
"How can I not." she paused while somebody walked past the room. When the sound subsided, she continued. "This seems all too..much to be a coincidence."  
The man emitted a short laugh. "Women. So much emotion."  
"Hey, fuckface-"  
He rose his hands defensively and it was then she noticed his hand had only three fingers and a thumb. She reached out a grabbed one quickly, surprising even him. She looked at him with a brow raised. "Things just get weirder and weirder with you."  
He took back his hand and held it as though it were hurt though she grabbed fairly gently.  
"You aren't like others/You want to know everything/but offer little."  
"You could say I'm curious. If I tell you my story, can I at least get your name?"  
He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Seems like a fair deal/I'm curious about the Skag/Why do you bother."  
She gestured for him to take a seat in the chair and she sat on the bed. "I got back a ways. My family does." She began as she looked down at her scarred up knees and legs.  
"We made a living wrangling Skags. We tamed some even. Mostly. That one out there..had him since he was a pup. He's still rough around the edges but..manageable. We've done it for three generations." she grew quiet then and spoke just above a murmur. "It all ended when my father died. An alpha Skag landed on him..crushed his ribs..pierced his lungs.." She looked up at him. "We were the last of our kind in that area. I decided I'd take my show on the road. I had nothing to stay for. Just him."  
The man sat in the chair, hands on his knees, and was silent. After a minute of the two of them sitting wordlessly, he spoke. "Zero."  
She looked up at him, a confused look upon her face. "huh?"  
"It's what they call me."  
Aunika leaned back on her hands and nodded once. "Seems fitting. Strange name for a strange guy." She smirked at him, her words harmless in intent.  
"Skag wrangling isn't exactly normal." he pointed out.  
She shrugged and looked directly at him. Zero sat back, hands sliding up further on his legs.


	5. Lost

The day was unusually windy which was just fantastic when she had to go and wrangle a family Skags. The glaring sun made her skin melt, or so it felt, so the sand and dirt stuck worse than usual.  
"God damnit-" She muttered as she peered through her binoculars in search of the Skag den. Even they had the sense to stay in when the sand was blowing so hard.

She was considering waiting until the wind died down when her Skag began to grumble loudly. He took a few steps in one direction and began to pace. "What is it? Don't tell me it's a bandit..I don't have the patience for their shit..not now."  
Aunika slid from the saddle and grabbed her rifle from the sling, ready to shoot. She then kneeled beside her Skag and waited for some dumb bastard to come waltzing towards her and a bad day.  
Instead, the form of a small Skag became vaguely visible and was apparently sniffing around for something to eat. The sand must have confused it since the town was no more than a mile away and it might have ordinarily made a bee-line right for it.  
She lowered her rifle and slowly, very slowly, she backed up and slid her hand into the side-saddle. She managed to rustle around quietly and withdrew a hunk of dried meat which could have fed her for two days.  
She reeled her hand back, "Arm, don't fail me now." she muttered, then hucked the chunk towards the Skag.  
The dumb beast leaped back a foot then cautiously sniffed it. "C'mon...don't be a greedy gary."  
She watched anxiously as the Skag sniffed the meat and gave it a trial lick. It then picked it up in it's mouth and bounded off into the curtain of whirling sand. "Bingo! C'mon, let's go drop his family a visit, shall we?"  
Aunika mounted the saddle and her Skag took off after the other but kept far enough behind to not be seen or smelled. They idled a few yards away as the feral Skag approached the opening to his burrow and seemed to try and get a better grip on the meat before entering. They waited a few minutes more..just incase it exited for more.  
The coast was clear so they marched forward, slinking around coming up to the burrows opening from the side. With a small device similar to a sonar device, she got a good peak at the general makeup of the burrow. It wasn't too big so no more than five Skags would be living within it. They might not all be inside, but there was still a good chance.  
She hopped back onto her Skag who trotted off a few yards away allowing for Aunika to throw a couple of grenades into the burrows opening. They backed up further away and waited for the explosion. A loud boom echoed between the craigs and a cloud of dust shot out from the opening before it collapsed. She had raised her gun to shoot any that had survived but with the burrow caved in, any survivors wouldn't have the energy to try to burrow out.  
"Well..that went much better than expected. Guess I could have done this yesterday after all. C'mon, this sand is blinding-" She began but before she could finishing, something heavy tackled her to the ground.  
Immediately thoughts of her father came flashing back to her.  
"Oh god, is this how I'm going to die?" Was the first thing she thought as the body rolled over the top of her as they both landed.  
She quickly scrambled to her feet and readied her gun, but whatever hit her had fled into the sand curtain.  
She backed up and spun around, listening and watching, but the wind and sand rendered her nearly blind and deaf.  
"God damnit!" she spat.  
She continued to turn and aim, only growls hinted to where the beast was hiding. She ignored the acute throbbing pain in her ribs knowing that it was the least of her problems then.  
A movement caught her eye and it was obvious that the thing was another Skag, probably from the burrow she had just destroyed. It appeared to be an adult but was ferocious enough to be an Alpha.  
She aimed her gun and fired, not caring where she shot so long as she she shot it. The beast let out an ear splitting roar of pain then quickly retreated into the sand, but it would be back.  
Sure enough, it charged again but its wound made it slower. She managed to dodge it and take aim before it disappeared yet again. She fired blindly and desperately and the beast let out long roars. SHe couldn't tell how many times she'd shot it, but she knew she had.  
She readied herself to fire again when it approached, but suddenly her Skag bolted into the curtain of sand and vanished.  
She stared, shocked and feeling even more vulnerable. There was a disgusting cacophony of roars, yelps and hisses then silence. She turned circles, waiting for the feral to leap out and finish her.  
She stood for what felt like ages, but nothing came for her. She began to panic but feared that calling out for her Skag would make her easier to find for the feral and any other in the area.  
Ten minutes must have gone by before she began to consider making a break for the town. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't move. She couldn't very well leave her Skag behind, especially if it was hurt or lost, but if she remained in the worsening sand storm, she'd be buried alive or a sitting duck for any other Skags.  
"I'm sorry-" she she murmered, the repeated herself louder before pivoting on her heal and making a mad-dash towards the town.  
A small dark shape came into view and her heart skipped a beat. She aimed her gun and approached. Only when she found it to be just a barrel with some random machinery stacked around it, did she relax. She knew she was back and that safety was near.


End file.
